Frank Sinatra|
#101
06-07-2007, 07:36 AM
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Quote:
Your untiring devotion to keeping the flame burning deserves special appreciation. With the books, the web site, the administration of the restorations and the "vault"—and now the Sirius show—anyone who doesn't appreciate your intimate knowledge of your dad's music deserves the "dumb blonde" characterization. Thank you for your efforts and your sense of humor.  
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#102
06-07-2007, 07:46 AM
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How sweet of you to take the time to write that post, Bob. Thank you. You do the same thing I do but in a different way and don't think I don't appreciate that.
I don't think people mean to be hurtful. They just don't think about that side of things. This site and the radio show are eating up my life, that's for sure. I don't have time for my own work anymore and I'm not sure Dad would have wanted that. I know I don't, but c'est la vie. Comments like yours make all the sacrifice worthwhile.
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DON'T DESPAIR |
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#104
06-07-2007, 09:02 AM
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I'd like to see Frankie's album, As I Remember It, played in the Album Spotlight.
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#105
06-07-2007, 09:05 AM
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How about having Sid Mark or the Chuckster "pinch-hit" every once in a while? That way you'd get some time off!
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Gonzalo Duque "Gonzo" 1997 Thunderbird Limited Edition 4.6L V8 1997 Lincoln Mark VIII LSC 4.6L Cobra V8 |
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#106
06-07-2007, 09:18 AM
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No offence to FSjr,
but I would be disappointed to find you absent for any reason. Guests on the show may certainly be worthwhile, but those of us with broadcasting experience know that its just a little MORE work.
However, that said, I'm sure that once you are personally happy with the show, tapings will go a bit more quickly, as efficiency prevails over dissatisfaction. Eventually, it may become possible to program the tracks well in advance of the narration, and record your comments at your convenience - even if that is alone, by yourself, in the middle of the night. You might be interested to know that our Government run Brewer's Retail (beer store) here in Ontario,Canada, has launched a Sirius campaign at the cash registers. And nothing, since the start of the 24/7 Elvis station has given rise to such aggressive advertising. (and that came a distant second) As a (Sinatra) perfectionist, you may have continuing reservations about the show. Yet people who are true Sinatraphiles revere these shows for the classics they will become, and your taste in FS tunes is impeccable. Add that to the "surprises" each week, and you may deduce that you have stoked the FLAME considerably, earning new converts with every show, and pleasing old Sinatraphiles like myself, Bob, Ron, Martin, Melonie, Adam, --- the list is endless, but we all agree on one certainty, FRANK IS BACK! Anybody, of any age, who is not a lover of the music of Frank Sinatra, will certainly be interested by "hearing" a single show. And as was the case with Tommy Dorsey, during the Columbia Era, through the Capitol era, and into the Reprise years, the music, the singing, the personallity and the "image" of Frank Sinatra is addictive. Nobody, but nobody, has ever read a lyric the way he did. And once you've heard HIS take on a song, all others are living in comparison.
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NICK Old School Teacher |
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#107
06-07-2007, 09:30 AM
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Quote:
Thanks Nancy, for all your endless hours of very hard work. 
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Sylvia |
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#110
06-08-2007, 03:27 PM
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That photo is from last February, when the Siriusly Sinatra announcement was made and Nancy appeared on Howard Stern's show. Here's another:
Attachment 40807 
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#112
06-10-2007, 04:35 AM
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Show #3
NANCY FOR FRANK
Starring Nancy Sinatra Show #3 (June 10, 2007)
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#113
06-10-2007, 12:58 PM
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Reminder: Show begins at 5 p.m. Eastern (about 3 minutes from now).
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#114
06-10-2007, 04:39 PM
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Very nice song selection and a great album spotlight choice in show #3, Nancy.
I might have a few of the dates and sources wrong on the radio songs or the non-Sinatra tracks above, so corrections are welcome (as usual). 
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#115
06-10-2007, 08:28 PM
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This one was deeply personal
A thunderstorm (which interrupted satellite radio reception here in Winnipeg Canada) combined with a hectic visit by grand children, ("Grumpa -- which is more important, that show or us?") conspired to prevent me hearing most of Nancy’s third show. (Hope to enjoy the entire program Thursday night!)
But I WAS able to enjoy the last 70 minutes-or-so of “Program 3” and overjoyed to hear some songs I’d never heard before. But, most important, this show had great depth, for me personally (more about that in a moment). If I may be permitted an important musical recollection: I remember my late mother asking me at her dinner table --- my dad had just left the room and my parents were both very musical people) -- Mom asked: “What is your favorite song?” Without a moment’s hesitation I said, “ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE.” My Mom was astonished, and said: “That is your father’s favorite! Mine too!” Soon after my mother died, five years ago, my father (who late in life learned the difficult melody by Jerome Kern on piano) told me that “ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE – the words, sum up exactly how I felt about your mother. They describe her, to a T.” I remember he recited the seldom-heard verse -- which most singers, including Frank Sinatra, usually didn't include, (for one reason or another, usually time limitations). My father died late last year; his own lovely, piano variations on ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE was one of the last things I heard him play, two weeks before he died; he played it before an impromtu audience at a 'retirement home' here in Winnipeg -- and he played it flawlessly! The genius of Kern’s melody is that it is at once easy to whistle or hum– it is so memorable – and yet, the chord changes (ask any gifted jazz musician) are such a riot of modulation that only the best musicians are able to play the darn thing -- and thus help to keep it alive for the next generation of jazz listeners. I can’t remember the last time I heard it played on radio. So I was simply overcome when Nancy singled this one out as – not only one of her favorites, but wedding day favorites of her daughters! (cont.) Last edited by Mark Blackburn; 06-11-2007 at 05:58 AM. |
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#116
06-10-2007, 08:30 PM
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The segment I was able to hear (between thunderstorms and grandchildren competing for my attention) included Nancy’s introduction:
“This week we decided to fill our final hour with musical bouquets – from Frank . . . and a few friends: Songs that reflect the promise of Spring and the beauty all around us.” After Frank Sinatra sings his classic version of I’LL REMEMBER APRIL (whose lovely melody by Gene de Paul was popularized by the Woody Herman band) we hear Frank singing a song he popularized in 1949 IT HAPPENS EVERY SPRING (with a delightfully evocative-of-Spring lyric: “Your dad rolls up his sleeves to clean the attic / your 16-year-old sister goes ‘dramatic’ / it happens, yes it happens every spring.” (lyric by Mack Gordon music by Josef Myron – who also wrote YOU MAKE ME FEEL SO YOUNG). (cont.) |
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#117
06-10-2007, 08:31 PM
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Nancy’s next selection is Michael Feinstein’s delightful take (with a full orchestra, beautifully arranged) on SPRING, SPRING, SPRING – a Johnny Mercer / Gene de Paul song from the 1954 film musical “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.” Nancy returns, singing, and quoting the lyric:
(quoting from the lyric) ‘The barnyard is busy – in a regular tizzy and . . . ’ – I love that song! Michael Feinstein is also an archivist who worked for Ira Gershwin and he continues to work diligently to keep the American Songbook alive. Thank you Michael!” Then after Frank’s earliest version of AMERICAN BEAUTY ROSE, we hear Joanie Sommers lovely rendition (a version I’d never heard before) of just about my favorite Rodgers & Hammerstein song, IT MIGHT AS WELL BE SPRING. (As I listened to this one, I thought of the nicest version I ever heard by a jazz pianist – Bill Evans. Imagine my astonishment when Nancy chose to close this week’s program with . . . well, more about that in a moment! After Frank Sinatra’s (1960s) YOUNGER THAN SPRINGTIME (the sound of Nancy’s reflection on this version was interrupted just when she was saying, “That version of YOUNGER THAN SPRINGTIME comes from (silence) we put him in his regular recording studio, at his regular mike.” “Joanie Sommers sang IT MIGHT AS WELL BE SPRING from her album ‘Positively the most!’ She is one of the most underplayed artists on radio. Not any more! We will play as much of her music as we can get our hands on!” “Here’s a classic from Anita O’Day: the last time I saw her was a few years ago at the carwash on Santa Monica Boulevard.” We hear Anita sing Frank Loesser’s lovely SPRING WILL BE A LITTLE LATE THIS YEAR from 1944 – introduced by Deanna Durbin in the film “Christmas Holiday” and popularized by Morton Downey (senior, obviously!) Then, to my utter delight, Nancy selects my two favorite Kern/Hammerstein hits, THE SONG IS YOU, (on which FS takes the final note in a soft falsetto ---I can’t ever recall hearing him sing that way!) followed by Frank’s (only) recording of ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE! The latter is sooo beautiful! I’ve heard it before, but in this setting – on the air – I admit it gave me goosebumps. (cont.) Last edited by Mark Blackburn; 06-11-2007 at 05:59 AM. Reason: sp |
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#118
06-10-2007, 08:34 PM
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Nancy returns and says,
“Two lovely ‘sides’ from Columbia & Dad! Except for singing it on the radio, Dad never made another recording of ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE. It’s widely considered Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s pivotal moment, and is always at the top of any list of the essential pop standards.” “In fact, it’s been called the most perfect song ever written. My daughters both used that song as their wedding song. ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE is my second-favorite song . . . and the fact that it is Dad’s singular recording of the song, made at such a tender and vulnerable time in his life, made it all the more precious to me.” (After these words, spoken with depth of emotion in her voice, Nancy goes straight back to the music . . . and Nat King Cole with an intimate, warm and gentle recording of LOST APRIL (a song I’ve never heard of, let alone this take by Nat. The lyric includes the poignant refrain, “So . . . love couldn’t last / I lost love . . . and you . . . and April too.” Then after FS with his unsurpassed Nelson Riddle arranged, YOU MAKE ME FEEL SO YOUNG we hear Judy Garland’s best version of APRIL SHOWERS; then Nat Cole once more, with an achingly beautiful Gordon Jenkins arrangement of Rodgers & Hart’s greatest ‘spring song’ – SPRING IS HERE (“why doesn’t the breeze delight me? Stars appear . . . why doesn’t the night invite me? Maybe it’s because nobody loves me”). Then, without introduction, (I can’t believe my ears!) my other favorite jazz pianist (judged the most influential of all pianists) Bill Evans!!! I’ve never heard Bill played on radio in . . . oh, decades! Here, Nancy has chosen to follow Nat Cole’s SPRING IS HERE, with Bill’s instrumental version of same. Words can’t convey my joy at Nancy’s selection of Bill Evans playing this melody by my favorite composer, as the close to this week’s program. If I had to sum up this “show #3” in one word . . . it would be “deep.” That’s how it affected this listener: a deeply moving experience . . . and thus, for me, the best of the shows so far! Thank you, Nancy! |
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#119
06-10-2007, 08:44 PM
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Nice read, Mark!
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When You're Here, It's Family     Twitter: @GijLyons |
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#120
06-10-2007, 09:23 PM
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Thank you Bob and Mark.
I wish we had more people with a Sirius connection so we could discuss this. So far, I think next week's is the best.  BTW: Lost April was the song Cary Grant played on the harp in The Bishop's Wife. I believe Sammy recorded it too but I'm not sure. I know he spoke about doing that.
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DON'T DESPAIR |
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